Russia making mini-state for Assad: UK

Thomson ReutersBritain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond speaks during a joint news conference with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh at the Foreign Ministry in Amman, JordanMOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia scolded British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Tuesday for suggesting that President Vladimir Putin was fanning the flames of the Syrian civil war.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond claimed Russian Federation was “the key driver of the military disaster that’s happening on the ground” in Syria.

In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it is “illogical and incorrect” to make such statements adding that they contradict the very essence of Russian efforts in Syria.

“Particularly in southern Syria along the border just a few kilometres from here”.

“When asked about the Russian criticism, Hammond quipped: “‎Sounds like I must be pretty much spot on”.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zharova, commenting on the allegations, called Hammond’s statement “dangerous disinformation” in an interview to the Govorit Moskva radio station, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

However, speaking in December at a meeting honoring Russian military officers for their action in Syria, Putin said that “positive things have happened there thanks to you and your comrades, who have been working in the air, and, in fact, have been leading the Syrian military units”.

Britain said today that the UN-brokered peace talks on Syria being held in Geneva must lead to a political “transition away” from President Bashar al-Assad. They also claim to have sent aid to the besieged Syrian town of Deir ez-Zor, but rebels and residents unite in their claim that Russian air strikes have killed hundreds of innocent civilians.

Russia’s intervention had been a major setback for worldwide efforts to find a political solution to the crisis, Hammond said.

The Foreign Secretary believes the number of people heading back to Syria has “stopped dead”.

But he said that it was hard to discern whether the Kremlin’s support for Mr Assad was changing, because Mr Putin was impossible to read.

“Less than 30 per cent of Russian strikes are against Daesh targets”, he continued. Hammond made these remarks on the sidelines of his visit to a refugee camp in Jordan that he was inspecting.